Description
Object description
British private served with 1/6th Bn Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regt) on Western Front, 1915-1918
Content description
REEL 1: Aspects of period in Yorkshire, GB, 1914: civilian employment at wool mill in Bradford; family; reaction to outbreak of war, 4/Aug/1914; story of enlisting with Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regt) age 17 at drill hall in Guisley, 9/1914; medical examination; question of age; posted to training battalion in Skipton; reaction of mother to enlistment; reason for volunteering to join 1/6th Bn in Doncaster. Aspects of training with 1/6th Bn Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regt) in Yorkshire, GB, 11/1914-4/1915: story about conversation with platoon commander; description of training in Skipton including route marches, musketry, drill and trench digging; opinion of training; attitude to discipline; opinion of Company Commander and other officers; attitude to overseas service; sailed aboard channel steamer SS Onward to Boulogne, France, 14/Apr/1915. Aspects of operations with 1/6th Bn Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regt) on Western Front, 4/1915-1918: description of St. Martin's camp in Boulogne; accommodation and food; first impressions of France; description of train journey to Merville; opinion of billets in farm; proximity to front line; description of artillery fire and Very lights; moved into line at Bois-Grenier; reaction to being under fire for first time; sentry duty; story of carrying water over crossroads covered by German machine gun; marched to Fleurbaix sector; first casualty in Bn; story of finding bodies of men killed by shell explosion; attitude to being wounded; story about soldier with self-inflicted wound.
REEL 2 Continues: description of marching to bivouacs in wood; story of visit by Gen. Plumer; nature of terrain and dugouts in Pilkem Ridge sector; description of bridges built by Royal Engineers over Yser Canal; description of trenches on Ypres Salient and proximity to German trenches; daily routine and duties in trenches; description of trench periscope; opinion of living conditions; rotation in and out of line; problem of unburied bodies near trench; question of adequate artillery support; opinion of French 75mm field gun; problem of transport wagons making noise on cobblestones and attracting German artillery fire; opinion of rations; duties as battalion orderly collecting mail; problem of lice and personal hygiene; various memories of locations on Pilkem Ridge; description of journey to railway station at Poperinghe; story about home leave in Yorkshire, 12/1915; description of gas attack at Ypres, 19/Dec/1915; duties as battalion runner; description of Bn HQ on canal bank; method of naming communication trenches; casualties among senior officers during gas attack at Ypres, 19/Dec/1915.
REEL 3 Continues: story about Pte. Bracewell being awarded DCM for rescuing wounded under fire; returned to Bn after home leave, 1/1916; repetition of story about visit by Gen. Plumer; moved into line at Authuille, Somme, c.2/1916; daily routine and duties in trenches; description of training on replica trenches near Thiepval; comparison of terrain and living conditions on Somme and Ypres Salient; summary of movements on Somme, 7-12/1916; story of being sent to rest camp in Boulogne for six days, 1916; various memories of concert parties.